Toy gun



June 16, 1953 w. J. wAIKms 2,642,057

TOY GUN Filed Aug. 20, 1951 Patented June 16, 1953 UNITED. STATES PATENT orrlca Wilbur J; Watkins, Long Beach, Calif. Application August 20, 1951, Serial No. 242,664

1 Claim. (Cl. 124-17) The present invention relates generally to toy I guns and more particularly to a toy gun for shooting small projectiles.

There have been heretofore toy guns of the type capable of shootingsmall projectiles such as peas, pellets of clay or the like. Many of these toy guns have not proved to be especially popular in view of their vulnerability to damage, especially at the hands of children. Others, though fairly rugged of constructiomhave required a comparatively large number of parts whereby they have been so expensive as to preclude their wide commercial acceptance. Still other toy guns of this type, though fairly sturdy and simple of design, have been formed of wire so that they bore little or no likeness to an actual gun for which reason theyhave proved to have little attraction.

It is a major object of the present invention to provide a projectile-shooting toy gun which is simple, sturdy-of construction, which will withstand the rough usage generally required for children, and which is notliable to break or get out of repair.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy gun having a body formed with a novel integral triggering mechanism which requires no additional moving parts.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a toy gun which is of solid configuration whereby it bears a reasonable resemblance to an actual gun.

Another object of this invention is to provide a projectile-shooting toy gun which may be made to resemble either a pistol or a rifle and which utilizes an easily replaceable rubber band as a power means.

It is a further object to provide a projectileshooting toy gun which though incorporating the aforementioned advantages is inexpensive of manufacture and is reasonably accurate in use.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof two practical embodiments thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein: v

Figure l is a perspective view of a pistol-simulating toy gun constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the toy gun shown in Figure 1, with its parts in a cooked or ready-to-shoot position;

t Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the appearance of the toy gun immediately after it has been shot;

proposed several Figure 4 is aside view of a rifle-simulating toy gun constructed in accordance'with the present invention; s

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the toy gun of Figure 4 showing in detail the triggering mechanism thereof at such time as the gun is ready to be shot. p

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 but showing the relative disposition of the triggering mechanism immediately after the gun has been shot;

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary side view showing a detail of construction of a toy gun built in accordance with the present invention. v

Referring now to the drawings and particular- 1y to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the present inventionis initially shown applied to a pistol-simulating toy gun capable of shooting small projectiles. The body B of this toy gun comprises broadly a barrel, generally designated I0 and a handle, generally designated l2, which handle also serves as a triggering member in a manner to befully described hereinafter. The front portion of the barrel l0 mounts the front end of a rubber band M, which rubber band is secured at its rear end to a pusher element l6. Upon operation, the rear end of the rubber band is stretched rearwardly until the pusher element I6 may be engaged with an upright abutment element, such as a pin [8, forming part of the triggering mechanism. A small projectile 20, such as a pea or a pellet of clay, is then disposedon top of the barrel in front of the pusher element l6, as shown in Fig-, ure 2. The triggering member may next be ma-. nipulated so as to withdraw the abutment ele-, ment l8 from engagement with the pusher element l6 whereby the rubber band will snap forwardly, driving'th'e projectile 20'alongiand over the front of the barrel l0.

More particularly, the body B will be formed of wood, plastic or other such material having a certain degree of resiliency. The handle [2 is preferably an integral part of the body having a single integral point of connection therewith at its forward portion, as indicated at 22. 7 Thus, it will be seen that a gap 24 exists between the upper edge of the handle I2and the lower edge of the rear portion of the barrel H], and that a gap 26 also exists between the forward edge of the handle and the rear portion of the body. The rear portion of the body defines a finger hold 28 adapted to receive the index finger of a user of the gun. I The upright pin l8 willpreferably be secured at its lower end to the upper rear portion of the handle l2. This pin I8 is seen to be disposed within a vertical bore 32 formed in the rear of the barrel In with its upper portion normally projecting above the upper surface of this barrel, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. At such time as the gun is to be shot, the handle I2 is moved in a' direction downwardly and forwardly about its point of connection 22 with the body B. As shown in Figure 3, this action causes the upper portion ofthe pin I8 to move downwardly within the vertical bore 32 until its top is substantially flush with the upper surface of the barrel.

The preferred manner of securing the front end of the rubber band I4 to the front portion of the barrel Ill is to form a vertically inclined slot 34 in the latter, which slot mayreceive the front end of the rubber band. If thethickness of this lot is made somewhat smaller than the thickness of the rubber band, the rubber bandv will not easily become detached from the barrel under even the most violent manipulation of the gun. The rear end of the rubber band will preferably be secured to a pusher element such as a loop of leather [6, which pusher element includes atits rear a vertical passage 38 engageable with the pin is. As shown in Figure 7, the front of the loop of leather 16 may be securely tied to the rubber band [4 by means of string, Wire, or the like, designated 31. With this arrangement it is not necessary to provide a special rubber band; but rather any conventional rubber band of a length somewhat shorter than the barrel Ill may be utilized. Generally speaking, the shorter the length of the rubber band as compared to the length of the barrel is, the greater the impetus given to the projectiles shot by the gun.

In operation, the pusher element is grasped between the operators thumb and index finger and the rubber band stretched rearwardly until the vertical passage 38 may be engaged with the pin 18. A projectile 28 is then disposed adjacent the front of the pusher element, as shown in Figure 2. The gun is then ready to be shot. To

shoot the gun, it is grasped in the palm of the hand like a conventional pistol with the operators index finger extended through the finger hold 28. At this point, the operator merely exerts a squeezing pressure between the finger hold 28 and the handle l2 whereby the latter is 1 moved in a direction downwardly and forwardly about its point of connection 22 with the body B. Such action serves to withdraw the pin I8 downwardly from within the vertical passage 38 whereby the pusher element 36 will be released allowing the rubber band to snap forwardly so as to drive the projectile along and over the front of the barrel it, as indicated in Figure 3.

Referring now to Figures 4, 5 and 6, there is shown another embodiment of the present inven- 1 tion, wherein the invention is applied to a riflesimulating toy gun capable of shooting small projectiles. This gun broadly comprises a body B having a barrel 40, a butt 42 and a stock 44 intermediate thereof, which stock 44 is formed with an integral triggering mechanism adapted to effect the release of the rear end of a rubber band 46 secured at its front end to the front of the barrel 4!].

More particularly, the body B of this gun will be formed of wood, plastic or other such material having a certain degree of resiliency. The upper portion of the stock 44 is seen to be formed with an elongated triggering member 48 having a single integral point of connection 58 therewith at its forward end. This triggering member is separated from the rear portion of the barrel 4!] by a gap 52 and from the main portion of the stock 34 by a gap 54. Accordingly, the triggering member is resiliently movable downwardly about its point of connection with the main portion of the stock.

The triggering member includes an abutment element, such as an upright pin 56 secured at its lower end to the upper portion of this member. This pin 56' is shown disposed within a vertical bore 58 formed in the rear of the barrel 40 with 'its upper portion normally projecting above the upper surface thereof, as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

The front end of the rubber band 46 will preferably be secured to the front of the barrel by means of a vertically inclined slot 6%! having a thickness slightly smaller than the thickness of the rubber band. It is contemplated that the rear end of this rubber band be secured to a pusher element such as a leather loop 62 in the same manner as described hereinbefore in relation to Figure 7. It should be noted, however, that this pusher element may also assume other forms, such as a small block of wood or plastic having a vertical passage engageable with the pin 56. The preferred form of pusher element, however, comprises a leather loop such as that shown in the drawings.

The operation of this form of the invention is similar to the operation of the embodiment shown in the first three figures, the rubber band it being stretched rearwardly over the barrel 40 until the vertical passage 64 of the pusher ele-- ment may be engaged with the upper portion of the pin 56, as shown in Figure '5. A projectile 2-9 is then disposed adjacent the front of the pusher element. To shoot the gun it is only necessary to press downwardly upon the rear portion 66 of the triggering member 48 whereby the upper portion of the pin will be withdrawn downwardly from within the vertical passage 64. Such action will release the pusher element 62 allowing the rubber band to snap forwardly so as to drive the projectile 20 along and over the front of the barrel 4!), as indicated in Figure 6.

As with the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the impetus to be given the projectile 20 may be determined by the users choice of length of rubber band 15. At such time as it becomes necessary to replace the rubber band, the old rubber band may be lifted from the slot es and the leather loop 432 trans-' ferred to the rear of a new rubber band. Next,

the front of this new rubber band may be inserted Within the slot 60. This same procedure may also be followed to change the rubber band M of the embodiment of Figures 1, 2 and 3. The other parts of the toy guns described herein will last indefinitely even when subjected to the rough usage normally given such items by children.

It should be particularly noted that the present invention may readily be applied to other types of toy guns. For example, either of the guns shown in the appended drawings may be easily modified so as to shoot rubber bands rather than small projectiles merely by removin its pusher element-equipped rubber band from its slot and stretching a conventional rubber band from the front of the barrel to the upright pin. When the triggering mechanism is actuated so as to withdraw the upper portion of the pin from within the rear end of the rubber band, the latspirit of the invention or the scope of the following claim. I claim:

A pistol-simulating toy gun for shooting projectiles, comprising: a body having a barrel along which projectiles may be driven, said barrel being formed with a slot at its front end, said body also including a downwardly and rearwardly extending triggering member shaped like the hamle of a pistol and having at its forward portion a single integral pointof connection with said body of sufiioiently small cross-sectional area whereby it is resiliently movable in a direction downwardly and forwardly with respect to said point of connection; a finger hole adapted to receive the index finger of a user of said gun formed in said body forwardly of said handle; an upright pin disposed within a vertical bore formed adjacent the rear end of said barrel, said pin being secured at its lower end to the upper portion of said triggering member so as to'normally pro- I 6 ject above the upper surface of said barrel; a rubber band of less length than said barrel secured at its front end within said slot; and a pusher element secured to the rear end of said rubber band and formed with a vertical passage wherein may be received the upper portion of said pin, movement of said triggering member being accomplished by exerting a squeezing motion between said finger hole and the rear of said handle, said movement serving to withdraw said pin downwardly from within the vertical passage of said pusher element whereby it will be released and a projectile disposed forwardly thereof will be drivenualong and over the front of said barrel.

WILBUR J. WATKINS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bozarth Dec. 26, 1950 

